Four ways to boost operational productivity
21 April 2025: Sander Sondaal, Director Commercial Print Sales, Ricoh Graphic Communications, Ricoh Europe discusses Four Ways to Boost Operational Productivity. In the WhatTheyThink 2025 Printing Outlook the top business challenge operations cited was increasing plant productivity. In 2019 just 18% of respondents were concerned about this. In 2020 it rose to 30%, then 33% in 2021. In 2023 it hit an all-time high at 44% before ebbing slightly to 40% in 2024.
Also ranking highly at 37% was managing workflow automation – up from 32% in 2023. It had historically been at little more than 20% but has now become a key issue.
Ricoh clients are taking active steps to realise productivity gains.
Sattler Media is an award winning German Print Service Provider that specialises in the production of advertising and marketing materials. The group wanted to enhance the productivity and flexibility of its printing operation, so it has now invested in two RICOH ProTM VC80000 high speed inkjet printers for much of its commercial and direct mail printing based output. The company reported that its first Pro VC80000 line brought productivity benefits of 45% versus its earlier RICOH ProTM VC70000 line.
The ability to increase productivity and tap into the photobook market helped Dutch specialist book printer Ipskamp Printing decide to replace two existing toner printing systems with two RICOH Pro™ C9500 sheetfed presses. Following a 35% uptick in toner printed book production the systems are now running in two shifts to keep up with demand. Print runs continue to grow too.
Matmut chose two RICOH Pro™ VC20000 colour high speed inkjet devices to slash production lead times. The French mutual society no longer needs to factor in ordering mono pre-printed materials in readiness for personalisation. It has eliminated the carbon footprint generated by multiple small deliveries and significantly cut paper waste. Matmut is also able to offer new colour services to other company divisions.
To streamline prepress processes, Tchibo selected RICOH TotalFlow Production Manager™. The software supported the addition of three Ricoh toner presses. With the new capabilities and enhanced automation, the leading European coffee roaster and retailer accelerated production and elevated productivity, helping to support stores and boost their sales opportunities.
These Print Service Providers (PSPs) are not alone in focusing on reshaping operations with the emphasis on improved productivity.
For PSPs the main challenge now is how to maximise production capacity and deliver jobs responsively, especially when considering issues such as the skills shortage. They are under greater pressure to be as efficient as possible.
There are four main ways to help achieve that:
– Assess end to end operations to streamline production where possible. Prioritising pure speed will not bring the expected productivity gains unless frictionless workflow is in place to enable it. By evaluating each stage, bottlenecks, redundant tasks, or areas where resources are underutilised, can be identified to reduce waste and errors and ultimately increase productivity. This might involve automating manual processes, improving inventory management, or even reconfiguring production lines to reduce downtime.
– Review software and identify what best suits operational needs now and in the future. The right workflow software can have a significant impact on every step of the production process – now and in the future. How does the current operation manage data, job onboarding, tracking and management? With the right software in place, it can be better equipped to cope with future demands while keeping operations smooth and efficient.
– Support employee training and skills development to ensure transferable production knowledge. Investing in employee training and skills development is essential to maintaining high levels of productivity. By fostering a culture of continuous learning, your staff stay in tune with the latest technologies, techniques, and best practices. Training boosts employee fulfilment, reduces turnover, and ensures that critical knowledge is not lost. It also enables employees to handle a variety of tasks as production needs change.
– Not overlooking of course the most obvious course of action: investing in a more productive platform. If it can be integrated frictionlessly into your workflow, you have meaningful gains almost instantly.
Ricoh’s newest generation of high speed inkjet presses like the Pro VC80000 and the hugely popular RICOH Pro™ VC40000, can improve productivity through higher speed for a given quality of output, via automation, better integration with finishing, and simplicity of operation. Sattler Media is a great example of what can be achieved.
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